Internal Mystery
by Mew5089
Summary: An adventure unfolds as three pokemon are to live their lives after mysteriously appearing with little knowledge on who they are. There they each meet abnormal friends that will stay by their side as they go through exciting and dangerous adventures! This is the story of Mat, Channah, Danny and their friends Pam, Nymphia and Kyle as their happy adventures later go downhill...
1. No More Worries (Prologue Part 1)

**Hello. Quick message from the author; I would like to say that this is the first work of fiction I've written in a rather long time but things should be fine! There won't be a schedule for uploading since I like to take my time with things such as writing but it shouldn't take an eternity either! Also I do not own Pokemon. With that out of the way, please enjoy the story!**

* * *

 **Internal Mystery**

 **Prologue Part 1**

 **No More Worries**

 _It was a very pleasant day in Shalour City; clear blue sky, warm weather and a bit of a refreshing breeze. Practically the perfect summer day for relaxation and what better thing to do than take advantage of this perfection! This was originally not Mat's plan. An ordinary, tall, blunette boy and pokemon trainer visiting Shalour City with one of his best friends he's met through his adventure, Channah. She's a little younger but a pokemon trainer with lots of experience and knowledge, she has blonde hair with a bit of it dyed green. Channah was convincingly beaten by Mat (who had only spent half as much time training as Channah had) the day they met. The boy's quick thinking and infrequent determination defeated the experienced Pokemon trainer and ever since then they have become bittersweet rivals and occasional partners._

 _Today was different though! A whole day without their Pokemon, battling or adventuring just to spend quality time with family and friends. Mat's cousin was visiting the Kalos region and he wanted to see him, with the intention to bring his friend Channah because she enjoys being around children. Which in turn, would hopefully make her forget about Mat's recent win against her that she can not get over._

 _The three of them decided to visit the beach area for a while to enjoy the cool ocean and have a blast! Unlike everyone else, the time was passing by slowly for Mat due to him usually acting like a slacking and snorlax; unmotivated and lazy on any casual day. Seeing his cousin should have been a blast but this time it was not cutting it. Instead he was lying on a towel, swimming trunks, a t-shirt and arms covering his eyes. His cousin was much younger and playing in the water with Channah, constantly encouraging Mat to enter the water. Eventually Channah grew tired of the boy's "smarty pants act" and marched over to him and started to yap at him to enter the water. He groaned and flipped over which only aggravated her even more. Mat's cousin was still belly-deep in the water, watching their close display of friendship until he witnessed a majestic Pokemon swim in the water further ahead. There were only supposed to be skrelp, horseas, claunchers, their evolved forms, relicants, wailmers, luvdiscs and tentacools. But whatever he had spotted was nothing comparable to those Pokemon. It was pale gold, serpent-like and like no other pokemon he's seen roam in the water from the few other regions he has visited. Without a second thought, his childish mind made him swim after the mysterious pokemon that dived deeper underwater further away. He kept swimming out towards sea, only to find the water getting deeper and darker._

 _In the meantime, Channah was giving Mat a painful lecture that hurt his ears every second that passed by. He eventually decided to flip over again so his head was no longer laying in the towel. He ignored Channah and looked around her to see his cousin. At that very moment he saw a second-long glimpse of his cousin swimming out towards sea before quickly submerging underwater as if some force pulled him. Mat's pupil's widened and without a second of hesitation he dashed towards the last known location of his cousin like a blur and on the other hand, Channah was confused for a second before giving chase. As Mat began to ran, he felt the warm sand and cold sea water for the first time that day. His desperate chase made his running a little sloppy but_ _as he got deep enough into the water where it was waist-high, everything around him started to brighten before going blank._

* * *

 _ **"** Is that all I can remember?"_

A similar blue sky was filled with clouds on a warm day. A dewott was laying on a soft patch of grass in a very dense forest that seemed rather uninhabited and unharmed. The dewott laid there for what felt like an eternity, absorbing his new surroundings and trying to piece together what had happened to him. The difficult part for him was believing what was true; if he was human or if his memories were just dreams. It had felt like the moment he had opened his eyes in the patch of grass was his very first moment alive but at the same time he had memories of a completely different life. Those thoughts were the only things that came to mind whenever he tried remembering who he was. At least he had an idea of what his name might be, recollection of two other people's names and a small memory about each of them.

The dewott stood up quickly and naturally and then declared out loud, "I am Mat. These 'memories' of mine could not have been any dream, they feel too real and alive to be anything less. Especially the thoughts of my cousin..."

Too many mysteries clouded his mind but he shrugged them off. While standing up, Mat was able to get a better view of himself, he was blue with two sharp shells on each side. He then searched for a source of water to get a look of his face. It was not too long of a stroll before he found an opening in the forest with a nice pond. Mat looked over and got a good reflection of his new face.

"Guess I really am a dewott, huh." Mat told himself, examining his reflection.

Continuing to stare at himself, Mat found that his gaze was constantly drawn towards his scalchops on his side. Just by looking at them he could somehow figure out that they're used for the attack "razor shell" and he wondered if it were possible for him to use the move as well. Sure he was a pokemon now but was it as simple as swinging shells around, or was there something else to it? Mat grabbed both scalchops and held them in both hands. He gripped both shells in his hands, it felt oddly natural to him but something still felt off. This is how he imagined another dewott would do it though, plus he found it cool to carry and swing his scalchops in both hands for an attack. At first he was hesitant to swing them because it felt childish to him and he was a little embarrassed to just attack the air. What if someone watched him? The thought made him shiver, so he took a minute to look around the pond and at the circumference of the opening to make sure no one was around. He checked everything once more and then began swinging the shells. He felt silly and no sense of power came out of it but it was still kind of fun.

Nearly an hour passed and the day was still very young. Mat was sitting by the pond, wandering in his ocean of thoughts. _Where was he? How did this all happen? Why did this occur?_ But for now Mat would have to put these questions on pause, his stomach growled and he felt the need to eat. While walking to the pond there did not seem to be anything edible anywhere, it was like an empty but peaceful forest.

"I'll take nap here. It feels too early in the morning for me to be awake." Mumbled Mat before lying down on a tree and falling asleep.

* * *

The sun was strong that afternoon. Mat woke up lying on the ground, a bit sore but it was easily tolerable for him. Walking was an issue with the pain of being hungry and after walking for several minutes straight there was no chance of finding his way back due to the forest being so dense with trees that make the scenery seem the same everywhere. A few hours passed by and Mat still had nothing to eat and wandered the forest slowly with his space-filled stomach. It looked like this forest did not have many areas where berries grew.

"C'mon, there must be something out here to at least have as a snack." Mat cried out loud.

At that moment, faraway he spotted something out of the ordinary. He paused, for a moment he was sure that he saw a yellow tail with two bumps at the end.

"T-That must be a pikachu!?" Shouted Mat, relieved to find someone at least.

He started to sprint to where he last saw the tail, with all his strength he cried out for help but no sound came out of him but he continued to clumsily run. For a second his feet were traversing grass and dirt but the next second he slipped and was suspended in mid-air. Before he knew it, the poor dewott he ran over a small cliff. Everything felt like it froze for a second: him falling, his scream and his surroundings as his eyes met with the pikachu's. His final thought before falling was that he was gonna have a bad time...

After a painful split second of something happening too quickly for him to understand, Mat found himself looking up towards the sky, his back on grass and a massive headache. Panic struck him for a split second and he bounced onto his feet instantly with pain all over him but he didn't bother to complain. He looked around and found the pikachu besides him, head planted into the ground and hopefully breathing. Mat could only feel like a fool for falling but he was hungry, desperate and now in lots of pain. He looked over and there was a basket knocked over with apples in them! He started to stagger towards the apple basket to grab a snack. He reached for the basket and found a few fresh apples to eat. He picked one and a grin grew on his face. Mat planned on eating it after he got a bit of rest from the fall. He grabbed the basket and turned his back to the pikachu. He started to slowly walk away but pain was stinging in his head as he was leaving. He looked back at the pikachu with her head planted into the ground, his eyes could not leave her pitiful sight.

"This is not right isn't it? But I, I... Can't believe I've gotta do this to myself." Mat whined, looking at the apple in his hand.

He placed the apple back into the basket and walked back. He placed the basket besides the pikachu as she slowly woke up.

Met offered the other pokemon some help, "here, let me help you up."

* * *

"Thank you very much for the help Mat! It was very kind of you to help me, not many Pokemon are as kind as you and would offer help. I'm sure any other stranger would simply snatch my basket of apples and leave without at least giving an apology!" said the pikachu full of enjoy.

Mat simply nodded with half his face turned away from her with guilt. Hungry and in pain, he somehow knew that he made the right decision.

The pikachu moved closer to Mat and introduced herself full of zeal, "please let me introduce myself, I'm Pam, a friendly pikachu out to help everyone!"

"Out to help?" Mat repeated.

"Y-Yes, is there something you need?" Asked Pam.

Mat paused for a second and then said, "yeah, is there a chance I could find a place to stay for a while?"

* * *

"Here we are, this is my home!" Pam said presenting her home while pointing upwards.

After a short walk through the forest they finally arrived. Mat looked upwards towards where Pan was pointing. The house was built atop a hill surrounded by a small population of trees, bushes and flowers. No road, gate or fence anywhere. It looked like a large round hut made of wood, with a second floor, two room extensions added to both sides and a round roof made of wood.

Mat stared at it for a moment and then complimented, "impressive place."

"Why thank you! I live here with two other of my friends though, I'll introduce them to you if you'd like!" Offered Pam.

They walked up the hill towards the front entrance.

Mat gestured for Pam to stop and said, "I'll get the door, you're still holding the basket when I'm the one who should be holding it."

"O-Oh, thank you. I left the door unlocked so you can just open it..." Said Pam.

As Mat reached for the doorknob and was supposed to turn it, the door had quickly swung open towards him! With the dewott's poor luck, he was flattened between the door and the house's wall. It flew back and he saw a figure running away and another chasing after it. Pam called out someone's name before coming to Mat's aid.

"Oww, why me?" Were his last words before falling unconscious again.

* * *

Somewhere else...

 _"Why is a dedenne playing around an entrance to a cave?" asked the colt pokemon to himself._

 _In the middle of a forest was a very young dedenne strolling aimlessly, humming some tune without any worries._

 _The small horse pokemon strolled up to the dedenne and asked, "excuse me but why are you all by yourself without someone like an adult? Especially someone as young as you are."_

 _"Hi! My name is Danny, I'm just looking around, searching..." Replied Danny the dedenne. "Say, what pokemon are you? I've never seen anything like you before!"_

 _"Oh, I'm a keldeo! But you can call me Kyle. Just a friendly pokemon out to help!" He replied proudly._

 _Danny's eyes sparkled with joy and so he asked, "hey, could you help me find my cousin and his friend?"_

 _"Yeah, sure thing!" Said Kyle, enthusiastic to help._


	2. No More Worries (Prologue Part 2)

**Hello, welcome to chapter two! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I failed to mention it last time but the prologue will last for about three chapters. After that, most chapters will be focused on the characters, their adventures, light-hearted moments and every once in awhile serious events. Kinda like in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. Anyways there's not much to add besides the friendly reminder that updates are random. With that out the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Internal Mystery**

 **Prologue Part 2**

 **No More Worries**

Orange light loomed into the room through a circular window. The room was just barely lit thanks to the natural light. The room lacked decorations and the only furniture there was were the piles of hay used to sleep on. In the middle of the room was a pile of hay especially prepared with the dewott Mat laying on it. He started to come to wakefulness after getting sandwiched from before. As his eyes opened his mind was coming back into reality too, he lifted his head and inspected the room for himself.

"H-Hello, anyone here?" Mat asked out-loud, hoping for someone trustworthy to answer him back.

Mat stood up slowly, still feeling a little dizzy even after resting. He stood-up and walked towards the window to his left, he was just barely tall enough to get a glimpse of what was outside. Upon inspection, the first thing to catch his attention was a jaw-dropping sight of a beautiful and vast ocean with the sun setting. A coast filled with sand that shined and peaceful waves entering. The sight absolutely stunned Mat! It felt marvelous for him to finally see something amazing all to himself after one bizarre day! Just watching the waves gave him a great feeling relief and oddly-

 ***SNORE***

"Gah!" Cried Mat, nearly jumping out of surprise.

A few feet behind where Mat slept was a small chikorita sleeping on the floor against the wall. Mat turned around and stared at the Pokemon who made an incredibly loud snore as it slept. It started to snore again, feeling weak, Mat could no longer handle the agonizing sound.

 ***SNORE***

"Hey! Cut it out! What have I done to deserve this?!" Shouted Mat, no longer able to endure the sound.

The Chikorita only mumbled a reply while half awake, "does anyone have a pillow?"

"N-No? What do you want with me?.. Assuming you dragged me here." Replied Mat, hoping for a real response.

The chikorita finally woke up, completely startled it replied, "WAH! Y-You're awake, Mat?"

"'Mat!?..' How do you what my name is?" Asked Mat, completely shocked to hear his name from another Pokemon besides Pam.

The chikorita only shook its head and replied, "like, how could I forget?! You were always such a child, even after this huh?"

"C'mon, I just woke up. Don't go blaming me for not knowing everything!"

"Fine... Anyways, Nymphia and Pam are waiting for us so let's get moving."

Mat paused and then asked, "whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop for a second please, how do you Pam and who are you even?!"

The chikorita stopped and sighed, "gosh silly, how do you forget one of your best friends? Me, _Channah_. Anyways, Pam already told us most of your story so I'll tell you what happened to me when we all meetup.

"Wait, you are?... WAIT, NO WAAAAAAY!"

"Hurry up! I'm going to tell you everything that happened, now let's not keep everyone waiting!"

* * *

 **Yesterday**

A familiar blue and cloudy scenery filled the sky. On the shore, calm waves came back-and-forth and a chikorita laid on the dry sand unconscious. Facing the beautiful sight of the ocean, her eyes quickly opened and they darted all over the place, looking all-around she did not understand where she was.

"O-Ow.. What happened?" Mumbled Channah as she was regaining consciousness. "Is anyone here?"

There was no response, Channah was left on the sand, watching the ocean and left with silence.

"H-Hey, can someone help me up please? I-I can't move!" Channah cried, "someone, anyone help me please... Maaaaat!"

The poor Chikorita was stuck there on the sand, helpless and crying for help. No matter for how long she pleaded, how many tears shedded, no one was there for her. Channah tried to flail but she laid there helplessly as if she was paralyzed. She continued crying out of fear and just wanted to smack the sand and throw it around. After enough effort, her leaf did just that! Her leaf was slapping the sand while she was yelling and crying and soon she was able to move the rest of her body.

After taking a few minutes to calm down, take a few deep breaths and wiped her tears. Channah quickly realized that she had become a chikorita.

"I must be in a dream! Something this supernatural is unreal... Sweeet! Being a Pokemon might just be fun!" Said Channah full of glee, shaking the fact of how realistic her "dream" was. She faced the water and declared, "first; let's test out what it's like to have fun and play-around as a Pokemon!" Channah hopped into the water and it quickly rose to her neck height. She enjoyed her time in the water; dancing-around and giggling, Channah was happy to be a Pokemon. At the same time, she couldn't figure it out but something felt odd about playing in the water. It didn't get to her though as she continued for another hour.

Day was becoming night and the sun was setting. After playing in the water, Channah's feet were wet and full of sand. She told herself, "even if I'm in a dream I need to get myself cleaned 'asap!'" Channah turned around and found a hill behind her that was past the beach. She was excited to explore more as stated, "I should reach the top of that hill and if I'm lucky, get a good view of this place!" And so the zealous chikorita decided to make a quick trip up the hill which would soon turn into an awful idea very quickly. Branches poked her, leaves got stuck and traversing the terrain was painful and tiring overall. After an awful walk, before Channah could start complaining, she spotted a wooden structure at the top of the hill! She came to the conclusion and shouted, "that must be a Pokemon's house!" She dashed towards the front entrance and knocked on the door. She waited for a few seconds (that felt like a minute) before footsteps could be heard running from inside. As Channah witnessed the door open, her heart was beating quickly and she was stoked to see what would happen next.

"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?" Asked the sylveon behind the door.

Channah could not respond, she was in complete awe! She didn't know what to say, would the pokemon even understand? Channah just stood in front of the sylveon; shaking, surprised, she didn't know what to do.

"E-Er, is something the matter?" Repeated the sylveon, head tilted in confusion.

Channah snapped out of awe and quickly replied, "yeah, yeah... My name is Channah... Can I, uhh, get some rest here please?..."

"Oh yes. Come in, my name is Nymphia. Make yourself comfortable." Offered the sylveon.

Channah was absolutely stunned by how smoothly everything had went. She soon entered with Nymphia guiding her to a room to the left of the entrance. Upon entering the room, a noticeable feature upon first glance was that it lacked any sort of furniture or decoration, just three piles of hay and a round window facing where she came from.

"Please wait here as I get you something to eat." Said Nymphia as she walked out room.

"I guess not all of this dream could have been filled with adventure." mumbled Channah to herself as she pouted.

Nymphia came back and setted up a new pile of hay especially for the chikorita.

"I'll be right back with some food." Nymphia stated before leaving again.

Channah thanked Nymphia for her kindness before sitting down on her newfound bed. Upon sitting down, the softness and the comfortable feeling of her bed soothed the chikorita. She soon became very exhausted and her eyelids began to shut.

Nymphia could be heard outside in another room when taking a right turn upon entering, "ugh, really? You should get some more apples tomorrow then."

"Yes, do not worry, I will go early tomorrow and get lots of them!" Replied another Pokemon.

Nymphia came back into the room, ready to apologize for the inconvenience but instead she found Channah exhausted and asleep. "Oh, she's all tuckered out. Must be her bedtime. Hopefully she'll be fine for now. In the meantime, I'm gonna continue research upstairs." Nymphia whispered to herself as she exited the room and climbed up the stairs.

* * *

Morning came, sun shining and another clear day! Channah woke-up that morning feeling famished and eager for breakfast.

"Rise and shine sleepy-head." Called Nymphia from a room above, "you're throwing your day away at this point."

"Oh, uh... Good Morning Nymphia..." Channah responded as she woke up, stumbling on her words.

Nymphia came down the stairs to greet the chikorita, carrying a basket half full of food using her ribbons.

"Well we don't have too much left, my friend is out getting more food so we'll have to settle for this as breakfast for now." Said Nymphia as she sat down next to the chikorita, "so I see you've gotten comfortable. Anyways, could you properly introduce yourself?"

Channah stopped eating and replied, "again, my name is Channah and I came here looking for help after playing in the ocean."

"Uh-huh, playing in the water?.. Well I bet you had lots of fun," Nymphia said as she finished eating. "So then, what brought you around this area?"

The chikorita looked stumped and responded, "before playing in the water, coming-up here and sleeping?.. Before all of that? Hmmm..."

Silence had soon filled the room but it was quickly interrupted as Channah gobbled up her food. Nymphia decided to let the chikorita eat and think over her question for just a little longer.

"Well it was nice getting to know your name at least," Nymphia uttered. "But it's important if you would be able to tell me more. I know we just just met but it's necessary to know _why you're here, where you came from_ and if there's anything else I can offer."

She thought for a few seconds. Channah closed her eyes and her expression showed that she was struggling to find an answer until it came to her: she only knew her name, there were only memories (besides from the other day) about two other people from some place and that she was being in denial about being in reality

"I-I-I don't remember anything before then." Channah silently stated as a traffic of thoughts clouded her head.

This made Nymphia confused and agitated which made her ask again, "do you have any idea where you came from? You couldn't have forgotten who you are... Or are still a little sleepy?"

More and more questions clouded Channah's mind, she could not understand what happened to her. She became afraid of the thought that she was alone and left in a world inhabited by pokemon.

Tears began to form as Channah whimpered, "I don't have any friends here and, and I'm all alone."

The chikorita just sat there, tears beginning to drip. Nymphia felt bad; she understood that feeling of losing hope and watching the chikorita only wanted her to help out more. But before she could do anything Channah stood up with her head down and ran out the room. It took Nymphia a second to think it through and chase after her. The chikorita ran as fast as her feet could let her. She raced out the room and ran towards the door. Luckily for her the door was unlocked and flew open quite easily. But unluckily for Mat, he got squished. Channah tumbled onto grass in front of the entrance and Nymphia quickly caught up to her a little out of breath.

"Are you two alright?" Asked Pam in complete shock.

"Yeah, yeah, we're alright." Responded Nymphia in relief, "but you might wanna look out for that dewott over there."

The pikachu turned around only to find Mat falling face-first into the grass and stars spinning around his head as she cried, "oh no, I'll help you out in just a moment Mat!"

Channah jumped back onto her feet from the sound of the name and muttered, "could that be him?!" She rushed over to the fainted dewott, throwing her arms the pokemon with her friend's name. For the chikorita, there was no doubt in her mind that it was somehow him. Now Channah was crying out of relief.

"Oh my!" Said Nymphia astonished, "do you know this dewott?"

She raised her head and looked into the sylveon's eyes with a small smile, "yes, he's a boy I knew in a small recollection of memory I have. I cannot explain it but he's an important friend to me..."

"S-Small recollection of memory you have left?" Nymphia gasped, "but first, let's nurse your pal back to health."

Pam and Nymphia carried Mat into their house and placed him onto a pile of hay to rest. As soon as Channah finished drying her tears, Nymphia came back outside again and patted her on the back with her paw.

"Nymphia, I'm sorry." The chikorita said, her back still facing away.

"Nah, don't sweat it!" Nymphia replied enthusiastically. "C'mon, let's go back inside. If you ever need a friend though, I'm here to help!"

* * *

"That is all folks!" Nymphia stated proudly, head high and tail wagging.

The four Pokemon sat around a rectangular table that was large enough to have eight pokemon sit around it. Night loomed and the moon was full and bright. Mat and Pam already finished telling their perspective of the story and so did Nymphia and Channah finish their part, completing the puzzle.

"I still can't believe I got splatted," Mat said discontent. "But anyways, I don't wanna be the bringer of bad news but I don't have anymore memory left than what Channah has."

Channah sighed, "I guess that can't be helped."

"But hey, does anyone else find it funny that I was being hugged while knocked out? I bet Channah thought I'd never find out!" Mat teased with a smirk.

Channah in complete embarrassment quickly retorted, "n-no! Nymphia made that up! Pam, please back me up!"

The pikachu did not know how to respond; to be honest or to help. Nymphia turned her face away from the embarrassed chikorita but just enough to see her and hide her heinous grin.

 *** Knock Knock ***

"I'll get the door!" Offered Pam as she stood up.

Mat leaned back with arms behind his head as he said, "I just want things to be easy and peaceful as soon as possible. And maybe all the pieces of this puzzle will fall into place and this maze of life will-"

"AAAAIIEE!" Screamed Pam from being terrified.

"Pam!" Mat cried desperately as he raced to entrance.

Everyone soon reached the the front entrance only to find a filthy and fainted keldeo at their doorsteps.


	3. No More Worries (Prologue Part 3)

**Welcome to the final part of the prologue! This is a larger chapter than the last two, hooray! I hope everyone has been enjoying this story so far, I can only hope that it'll improve as time goes on. As always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Internal Mystery**

 **Prologue Part 3**

 **No More Worries**

The four pokemon waited most of the night for the keldeo to return to consciousness but it was not long until Pam and Chanah fell asleep and later so did Nymphia and Mat. The sun rose and a new day started. Everyone woke up at more or less the same time. It was only while having breakfast that the keldeo started to wake up, he was wiggling and complaining in his sleep. Pam was keeping an eye out for keldeo while everyone else ate their breakfast so as soon as it started to regain consciousness she told everyone. The three other pokemon rushed into the room with high hopes and as they entered the room they saw the keldeo with a painful expression on its face. He groaned and rolled around a bit in his sleep.

"I'm going to shake him until he wakes up," declared Mat as slowly walked up to the pokemon.

In response, Channah stomped her feet and replied, "you shouldn't do that! Let him have his sleep! He needs it."

"Go for it." Nymphia casually replied as she shook her head, "it honestly might be better, he's gotten enough sleep. Plus the quicker he wakes up the better."

Mat started to slowly walk up, hesitant to touch the pokemon he instead poked him with the blunt end of his shell. The only reaction the keldeo gave was a groan and a bit of fidgeting, at this point it was probably half awake but too lazy to wake up. The dewott continued to poke, he soon gave up as it appeared to not be very effective and never bothered to shake the pokemon like he said. Mat turned around to find Pan and Nymphia with a confused expression and Channah with her face screaming that she was mad at him for poking a fellow pokemon in its sleep. Mat casually walked away from the sleeping pokemon and got a snack for Pan before thinking of any other ideas.

"Y'know there is a way to wake him up. Like literally right this instant," Nymphia casually stated.

"Is there really? We should try it right away!" Channah proclaimed, ecstatic to meet Nymphia's last friend she hasn't met, the cobalt Pokemon Kyle.

"Pam can shock him awake but she'd never agree since she might get nervous and put a little too much power into the thunder shock." Nymphia replied in a disappointed tone.

Pam was nervous to admit to what the sylveon had said but it was true. The Pikachu could only sheepishly reply, "b-but it is true! I-I..."

"That doesn't matter, just do your best to weaken the thunder shock as much as possible. You'll only need a small amount," Mat impatiently demanded. "Right now we need results. Something is obviously out of place and I can't quite figure it out."

The pikachu obeyed Mat and walked over to the now cozily sleeping pokemon. She stood still for a second, clutched her hands, heart shaped tail up high and used thunder shock. The cobalt Pokemon had quickly risen from its sleep; widened eyes and a loud yelp.

"Rise and shine Kyle." Nymphia said as she sighed.

"Gah!" Kyle the keldeo yelled as he sat up, "is everyone alright?!"

"Yes, we are all fine," calmly replied Pam. "We have new friends here too and an interesting story for you!"

* * *

In no time at all, Nymphia and Pam finished explaining their story as well as introduce the two new guests as they sat around the keldeo who had just woken up.

"So I guess nothing awful has happened since I've been gone for a few days," Kyle said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I can't deny nothing strange has happened to me too. Like I explained before leaving, I traveled far east from here, until I believed that I would find end of this region. Everything was fine and traveling through the mountains was filled with ease. That was until I stumbled upon a very young dedenne who happened to be called Danny."

That name rung in Mat's head as his whole attention fell onto Kyle. He looked fixedly at Kyle as words could not come to mind. Mat was a generally at ease pokemon but anything he discovers that connects to his memories had some sort of effect on him, it was like some sort of feeling horror or dread overwhelming him. It was like he remembered somebody he's never met. Channah only continued to listen, no strange behaviour just her leaf wagging. For some odd reason, even though they both came from the same situation they both had polar opposite reactions.

"Oh! I know who you're talking about," the chikorita exclaimed as if a light had just turned on. "Yes, yes! I know him from my, uh... Yeah, my memory!"

Mat couldn't explain it but he felt like he badly wanted to go find Danny.

"You might wonder what happened next," the keldeo continued, hesitant finish his explanation. "It was all going well. I was going to bring him here last night since we weren't too far away and he was completely alone..."

Everyone anticipated to find out what happened next as the room fell silent. Kyle couldn't finish his story; lowering his a little and avoiding eye contact. He was incapable of admitting what happened. It seems like Kyle was quite the pride-filled Pokemon, not only did he look powerful but it seems like he's overcome many things for a young pokemon.

"I guess I'll have to spit it out for you then," Nymphia said out loud. "Considering you fainted, were injured, did not bring back the dedenne and you can't admit what happened. It seems as if you were attacked by some pokemon and lost the battle. This world is filled with other pokemon who are evil and battle-thirsty and since you're a pokemon with a reputation of being powerful, I guess you were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kyle only lowered his head further.

"If what Nymphia is true, it shouldn't matter! It's just one loss, no biggy!" The chikorita said, trying to comfort Kyle.

"Unlike most of us, Kyle takes battling very seriously and taking even a single loss really demoralizes him! But he's still an incredible and strong Pokemon as every!" Pam also said as encouragement.

Mat made direct eye contact with Kyle and said, "wasn't Danny there with you? If he's not here, then that could only mean he's still out there."

A few seconds later Klye raised his head and replied, "I know. I tried but I couldn't help him..."

"But you failed and now he's out there and in danger!"

"I know, I know! I just couldn't save him..."

"But you failed and now we have to go after him!"

"That's enough Mat!" Channah cried.

The room became silent and the tension was high. You can feel the heat coming from Mat and guilt coming from Kyle. The keldeo had its eyes to the floor and the dewott visibly demonstrated his frustration.

"I have an idea," Nymphia proposed as she broke the silence. "Let's just go after the culprits tomorrow. If we have a plan and more us there, then we should be able to get that dedenne back."

Pan quickly agreed, "your idea sounds splendid!"

Channah also came into agreement, "I think that could work! A few of us going can definitely make a diference!"

"But you must let me go too," insisted the keldeo. "This is my fault, it's my responsibility to take care of this. Don't worry about my health, I'll be fine by tomorrow morning."

Mat quickly joined Kyle, "I'm going, I have to."

* * *

The rest of the day passed by like a blur as they prepared for the expedition the following day. The sun rose and it shined brightly. by the door the dewott stood there ready to leave as Kyle approached the door. Mat was standing at the door waiting for him.

"Mornin'."

"Good morning, " replied Kyle.

"I see you didn't have any intentions of leaving with everyone either..."

"Yes, I know it might not be the moral choice but this is all my fault. Afterall, I would not like to drag my friends or guests into danger, even if they might find us missing and become startled. And I know there's chance of budging you either." Kyle replied, feeling guilt crawling up him.

"Alright, let's go."

The Duo left the house without much trace. Kyle had a plan to trace his steps back and hopefully find any clues to locate the pokemon who had attacked him.

"So, can you repeat the details from yesterday?" Mat asked.

"Alright, please listen carefully," the keldeo replied. "We will be against a trio of pokemon. But do not fear, only one of them are capable of battling or at least I felt had potential. I wasn't able to catch their name but I know that the pokemon was a victini. He might have been absent in the height department and strong on the friendly side at first. But he is a notable adversary!"

"It is the victory pokemon after all." Mat interrupted but shocked a pokemon like it would be mischievous.

"Furthermore, they do not seem like the type of pokemon to ambush you like in a monster house but rather battle head-on."

"So they'll knock on our door, asking for a battle rather than blowing your house down? Sounds absolutely fine for me!"

An hour later, Mat and Kyle were able to reach the cave entrance where Danny was last encountered. The duo decided to quickly scan the area for any hints or clues to trace the dedenne's whereabouts. Pokemon rarely passed through the area so any signs of anything unnatural could have been from the day before. After several dedicated minutes of searching passed and no clues turned up so Mat decided that he would scout some of the area outside of the scene. The dewott quickly spotted a trail of half eaten berries in a straight line.

"Hey Kyle, check this!" Mat shouted, "it seems like neighbor-friendly enemies have left us something."

Kyle ran over to Mat's location and replied, "I doubt any pokemon passing by would leave something like this. The berry trail seems to continue where we were going to continue afterwards. By now it is clear that our enemy lies ahead, are you ready to face a powerful foe?"

"Let's just get this over with." The dewott muttered.

The duo once again continued their journey as they continued on their course. As their walking continued, the forest had become denser every minute and it eventually began to block some of the sunlight.

A sudden rattling sound came from a nearby bush, the sound had abruptly stopped the two pokemon. The sound was constantly stopping as quickly as it began. Kyle signaled with his head to quietly approach the bush. Mat simply nodded and tiptoed towards the location of the sound, behind Kyle. The keldeo swiftly approached the bush without a sound and used cut! The bush was instantly split into two parts as the top half fell on the ground, revealing a dedenne sleeping behind the bush! When Mat spotted the sleeping dedenne, he was relieved to finally see his cousin once again. On the other hand, you don't just find pokemon in tall grass, randomly in caves or by cutting bushes, right? So something felt very out of place, as if Danny was meant to be sleeping there...

"Let's grab Danny quickly and go!" Mat said as he reached towards the dedenne.

"I understand that you must be in a rush but I would like if you could just quietly sit down please." Proclaimed a mysterious voice from above the forest.

"I don't care. I'm leaving with Danny, right now!" Mat shouted looking towards the sky, trying to pinpoint the location where the voice came from.

The small figure started to lower from above the trees, revealing itself to be a vicitini as it laughed, "oh how you wish."

"Y-You!" Kyle hesitantly yelled.

Before Mat spoke, he cleared his throat and asked, "why're you doing this to Kyle and Danny?!"

"Oh was that that dedenne's named?" said the victini as it returned the question. "It was quite the racket. So one of my buddies decided to put it to sleep using hypnosis."

"But that doesn't explain why you're still here," angrily shouted the keldeo. "I mean after yesterday you..."

The victini chuckled before saying, "well you see, I needed to use Danny as bait to lure you here. As you already know from experience I am a powerful pokemon, of course and I would like to every single inch of this world to know that. You might be wondering, why did I bring you here? I must prove that I am the ABSOLUTE strongest and I will defeat you again, further proving my strength..."

"This is senseless and I will not let you have what you want!" Retorted Kyle.

* * *

The chikorita slowly woke up that morning after the sun rose. It quickly became apparent that Mat and Kyle were missing! Channah quickly stood up from her bed, still feeling tired but the fear snapped her out of it. She panicked and ran towards the other room where she met Nymphia packing a bag that hung from her side.

"Please get ready, we're leaving as soon as possible." Nymphia calmly said to the panicking chikorita.

Channah just stood there confused and unsure, there was not much she could do to prepare so she waited for Nymphia. As soon as the sylveon had packed a few berries into her pouch, the two were ready to go. Nymphia had explained to Channah as she was packing that she did not want Pam to come along, she was a very young pokemon and unprepared for danger. As soon as the other duo exited the door, as large area far away was engulfed by flames and tall beam of smoke reached for the sky.

"Ahh! C-Could that be them?!" Channah asked in complete terror.

"I-I have no clue." The sylveon responded, "If there's that much smoke coming from one area, there's action. C'mon, that's gotta be them!"

* * *

"GAH! Do you not understand this single pokemon's power Mat?" Cried Kyle.

Right now Mat was riding the keldeo like a ponyta, hovering above the burning forest. Right in the nick of time, Mat grabbed Danny and hopped onto Kyle as ordered which soon left them in this sticky situation. It was a wobbly ride but they hovered over the forest that burned below them using aqua jet which also helped extinguish a bit of the fire. Kyle soon started to focus on extinguishing the fire by hovering over it as the victini simply watched them for amusement. Kyle was soon finished cooling off the fire which was the least of Mat's worries, since he was afraid of being so high off the ground. The aqua jets lowered in power and they smoothly landed onto the ground.

"I don't wanna do that every again." Groaned Mat as he slowly dismounted.

"We should be grateful for staying in one piece! That was his over heat attack, we have witnessed his true power but there is still much more!" Cried Kyle.

The dewott put the still sleeping dedenne on the floor as he watched the victini slowly walk up to them with a mildly entertained expression. Hands behind his back and a large grin, the victini casually walked in their direction without hesitation. Its power was something to be reckoned with!

"My name is Nick, remember that please." The victini said, grinning as it slowly continued to approach them.

"My apologies, I didn't receive the names of you and your buddies before I was knocked out," Kyle replied in a sarcastic tone. "Speaking of which, did they decide not to show up?"

Nick giggled as he replied, "well I told my pals that I'd catch-up to them before leaving. They put the dedenne to sleep using their psychic powers, as a prize if you could return to me and become victorious. I had a feeling you'd come back for a rematch, so I've waited since then just to dishearten you even more! Just or the sake of my enjoyment. Even if I had to wait for days!"

The "V" shaped ears on the victini's head started to quickly glow and engulf in flame, it was charging its v-create attack! With only a split second to react, Kyle pushed Mat out of the way before Nick flew towards and just barely miss. In the brief moment the victini passed by them, Mat felt a tremendous wave of heat. The fire soon burned out and soon Nick watched the pokemon with a large grin from above. Kyle turned towards the victini floating in the air, he stood facing it in a battle position. Mat only cowardly back-awayy, there was nothing in his power he could do...

The area was once a forest filled robust vegetation. But in a matter of seconds, it was all burned to the ground from the sheer power of the victory pokemon known as Nick. A few feet away, Mat stood as he watched a pokemon battle unfold and his cousin Danny laying next to him. In the middle of the disaster Kyle the colt pokemon desperately fought the victory pokemon with all his might! Kyle used hydro pump at Nick but it failed to connect as the victini flew into the air. As a counterattack, Nick used zen headbutt and it was super effective on Kyle! The keldeo flew back towards Mat, just inches away of sliding into him.

"A-Are you alright?" Asked Mat pitifully, feeling guilty for not helping Kyle who was trying to save him and his cousin.

"Yeah, I'm really feeling it..." Kyle struggled to sarcastically reply. "According to my calculations, I can keep it up and land two more powerful hits, it should be enough to score victory."

The dewot gulped and replied, "great and then this'll be all over... Go get'em champ."

Kyle dashed back towards the battle field. The two pokemon looked injured with some mud, scratches and somewhat tired expressions on their faces. This time They had a fair fight and the keldeo was able to truly prove its strength!

"I am impressed of your quick progress," proclaimed Nick. "But to be honest from one pokemon to another, I could not get this far by playing fair."

The savage victini retrieved an oran berry and consumed it by barely chewing it! In a matter of seconds it was nearly back to full health!

"Y-You!.." Kyle cried.

"Guys, guys! H-How about, uh, I dunno. Let's call it a day?" Offered Mat, trying to flee the battle.

The two pokemon ignored Mat's request. Kyle took a large leap as it hurled itself towards its enemy with sacred sword. He was able to land a direct hit on Nick but it was visible that the attack had a smaller affect on him than his aqua jet and hydro pump attacks. As Kyle fell back towards the ground he was left in a vulnerable position, with a large opportunity for damage, Nick's ears were quickly engulfed in flames and he soon bashed Kyle with v-create. Kyle was sent flying towards the earth at rapid speed!

"Argh, I-I'm sorry, Mat and Danny... I, r-regret, so much." Kyle muttered as he fainted.

"Hey, come one Kyle! You gotta get back up!" Mat desperately pleaded.

In the distance Nick's laughter could be heard. There were no options left for Mat; either lose in battle or run away. Except he couldn't choose that second option, how could he leave Kyle behind and run away with Danny, if he could at least out run a victini.

The victini patiently stood a great distance away from Mat, its deep blues eyes searching for his. Every time he thought of running his eyes darted to the fainted keldeo which only twisted his stomach. On the other hand, the thought of fighting gave him a reckless sense of exhilaration. He understood that being a coward could be accomplished very easily but everything inside him told him that it was the wrong decision. On the other hand, standing his ground felt like his only option, even though it could turn out to be very regrettable.

In an instant Mat withdrew his scalchops and darted towards Nick with an expression that showed frustration and eyes that would make any pokemon shiver. The victini had little time to dodge as Mat ran up to him and used shell slash which only made contact with half of his target's belly as the rest of it sliced the air. The attack was super effective and must have landed massive damage as Nick's smile turned upside down. He quickly flew into the sky and prepared to launch his searing shot attack. Ideas ran through Mat's head like leaves following the wind as he had only seconds to come up with a plan before he would get hit by a devastating attack.

"I am going to enjoy this more than I should." Nick laughed as he unleashed his searing shot attack.

By then, Mat's only plan was to dodge the raining inferno. It was like trying to dodge fiery meteorites that came from the sky. Three of them came nearly consecutively, Mat was able to dodge the first one but the second ball of inferno landed near with an explosion, sending him flying onto the ground. The third part of the attack was about to make direct contact with Mat but he made a reckless decision: he withdrew his scalchops, jumped towards the attack and sliced the ball of fire into two pieces. It was a fancy performance and rash decision that was for the better.

Mat smiled as looked at Nick with an arrogant smile, boasting to himself about how awesome his successful plan was. The unexpected strength from this newly met pokemon made the victory pokemon unhappy. They had only met and yet this pokemon opposed his power and did not look like a threat, Nick felt as his only the best could challenge him. The victini suddenly flew towards the dewott with his v-create attack and with the dewott's guard down landed a direct hit! The powerful attack sent Mat flying a few feet away and falling besides one of the many burnt trees. Even though it was a fire type move it was still very powerful. Mat was down for the count but only for a few seconds and with every inch of power in him he stood up again but now with without ease. He had put more weight into one leg and held his scalchops a little more clumsily.

"Now do you see that when you face the reality of the situation it is no longer funny." Proclaimed the victini floating above the area where he hit Mat.

Nick waited for a reply as they stared each other down.

"What's the matter, meowth got your tongue?"

Mat waited a moment to finally reply, "ah no, no. Just y'know... Wasting your time to catch my breath. Gimme a moment will you please?"

"Why you..."

The victini retreated higher into the air as he prepared to use another searing shot attack! There was no more time to waiste and Mat had no chance of taking any more damage! Ideas desperately raced through his mind as he tried to think of a way of hitting Nick even though he was in the air.

"Time is up" Shouted Nick as he prepared his searching shot attack quicker than Mat expected.

There was no time to react! As Nick began to unleash his attack, he tried to find move that somehow hit him even in the air. All of a sudden, the dewott instinctively took a deep breath and launched a water pulse attack as he exhaled! It surprised Nick and landed a super effective hit, canceling his searing shot! The victory pokemon started to descend to the ground awkwardly and stars spinning around its head. It turns out water pulse had also made the pokemon confused!

A sudden thought made Mat's head spin; there was an opportunity to win! Nick landed on the ground, barely able to stay still as his eyes filled with swirls. The victini began to rashly charge his v-create attack once more! Mat decided to take this opportunity and defeat this villain! He lunged towards the victory pokemon as it was aiming his v-create attack. With one last effort, both Pokemon charged at each other for the final blow! At rocket-fast speeds, Nick flew towards Mat hoping he'd land a direct hit. Mat quickly stopped running and sidestepped in place and the victini was unable to correct its aim! In an instant, Mat struck using shell slash as Nick flew by him which sent him crash landing further ahead and fainting the pokemon!

In victory, the dewott smiled and looked at the area where Nick crashed before flopping onto the floor from fatigue.

* * *

"There they are!" Cried Channah in terror as she ran ahead of Nymphia and towards Kyle and Danny.

The two of them were resting on the ground, Danny apparently still asleep and Kyle gaining the strength to unsteadily speak.

"D-Don't let him, get away!" Kyle desperately cried at Mat.

The three pokemon watched as the victini began to slowly limp away. Mat was relying on one leg to lean on and breathed heavily. Instead of keeping an eye on the enemy, the dewott only waved towards his friends with a glee-filled expression.

"What are y-you doing?" Kyle cried once again. "He did all of this, d-don't let him go!"

Mat began walking towards Nymphia and Channah.

"Here's an oran berry for the MVP." Nymphia proudly said as she grabbed an oran berry from here bag using her ribbons and tossed one to Mat.

Mat caught the oran berry without replying to Nymphia. Without looking at anyone else, he could tell that Channah had a worried look on her face and that Kyle was furious with him. With his scalchops, Mat cut the berry in two pieces. With one of the halves he threw it to Nick after calling his name and ate the other half for himself.

Channah immediately yelled, "Mat, what do you think you're doing? You, you!.."

"Looks like a pretty noble decision, you sure it's the right one?" Nymphia calmly asked.

The dewott ate the berry and replied, "it's a difficult decision. Honestly, it'd be easy to forget about it but you should show your enemy that there's another way, show them the good within other pokemon no matter how corrupt they are. Besides he's just a boy, I bet that I demoralized so much that it'll discourage him to continue anymore naughty behaviour!"

"W-Well, if you put it that way. I guess I shouldn't bother arguing with you. As long as we are all safe and together then I'm okay with it." The chikorita said as she sighed.

"Yeah, there's no need to worry anymore," Mat replied as the sound of his own words gave him relief. "We may not know why we're here. We had a few awful days but now it feels like the puzzle pieces are all in place. No more worries."

 _There were countless questions left as mysteries to the group but they didn't let it further complicate their day. It was hard to explain but the newfound pokemons felt finally at home soon enough. From then on, only fun and mysterious adventures awaited the newly born group of friends..._

"Oh gosh, we forgot about Pam! Meh, she'll be alright." Nymphia randomly blurted, breaking the triumphant atmosphere.


	4. Chapter 1 - Dawn of a New Day

**Hello! Welcome to the first chapter that is not part of the prologue! I hope you enjoyed the prologue. Okay, this is going to be a short chapter in comparison to the last one. This chapter is also more focused on the characters and not on some sort of major event happening. Like I said, since this is pretty much inspired from the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series there isn't always something related to the plot occurring instead give a few days of expedition or having fun. But next time, there'll be a longer chapter or at least I'll try. Besides that, I hope you enjoy what we have here!**

* * *

 **Internal Mystery**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Dawn of a New Day**

The sun was shining very brightly! The six pokemon in the house woke up without any worry in the world. For Mat, Channah and Danny it was one of their first true days together in what might have been a while. Luckily for them, they were able to meet three other pokemon who were kind enough to let the stay for as long as they needed to. That morning Danny woke up full of energy and ready to spend time with his friends! The zealous dedenne was the first pokemon stirring in the house, he exited the house and got a few good breaths of the morning's fresh air! Danny came back inside only to find Pan wake up only moments later, she was the second one ready to start the day!

"Oh, why good morning Danny." Greeted the pikachu, still a little sleepy from waking up.

"Good mornin' Pam!" Replied the dedenne.

A little longer after the two electric pokemon woke up, the rest of them were awake too. But of course Mat had the most difficulty waking up...

The morning continued. Nymphia was in her room upstairs doing work, Danny was playing outside and Channah and Pam were talking to each other in the room with the table. After eating breakfast, Mat went back to bed; completely bored and too lazy to go outside. He rolled over, looked at the ceiling, stretched and eventually fell asleep.

"Hey Nymphia, so water you doing?" Danny curiously asked the sylveon.

In the upstairs room, Nymphia was studying some sort of ancient table inscribed a bunch of symbols. the tablet rested on top of an ordinary, rectangular, boxed-shaped table. She also wore a magnifying monocle that was attached to her ear. As she continued to study every individual symbol, the dedenne was by her side acting as a backseat driver; bouncing and constantly asking questions. While Nymphia kept ignoring him to concentrate on her work, occasionally signaling with her ribbons to tell the boy to leave. Meanwhile, all of Danny's bouncing around created noisy banging sounds which was unpleasant for anyone below.

"Oh my, that is quite a bit of a racket! I hope it is not bothering Nymphia" stated Pam, worried for the sylveon.

"Speaking of her," Channah blurted. "what is she doing upstairs? I know that Nymphia isn't the type to really venture but what has her so occupied?"

"Oh yes, that. That is her research duties! You see, Nymphia has been studying ancient artifacts for as long as I met her!" Informed the pikachu.

This news amazed Channah! Even though they have only known each other for a few days now, the chikorita had yet to learn what Pam had thought her. It wasn't much of a surprise either, considering how Nymphia is the oldest (tied with Mat) and seemed to be rather intellectual.

"So, is there any mysteries or secrets those artifacts hold," asked Channah.

"I am afraid that we do not have an answer yet," answered Pam, in a sadder tone. "You see, Nymphia has been searching for answers for a long time. But she has yet to discover anything astronomical for a long time... But I believe with her hard work and dedication that something will turn up!"

"Well, I hope so too!" stated Channah.

And so time continued for several hours. Not much changed besides Danny going outside to play. It was a bit after noon, Kyle entered the house from the front door by barely pushing it due to being unlocked. He casually walked through the entrance and turned left, only to find the dewott fast asleep in the middle of the day. Out of nowhere, the keldeo decided to shoot water at the dewott using aqua jet but it had little effect. Now the dewott's surroundings we flooded nearly covering half the room in water, including the other piles of hay. The keldeo was persistent though and had another plan to awaken Mat. Kyle walked over to Mat and began poking him with his horn, which did not prove to be successful either. His last plan was to poke him very hard. Kyle took a few steps back, pointed his head towards the dewott who was in a very comfortable nap and charged at him...

* * *

"So, what was it that you needed?" Mat asked calmly, with all his effort focused on containing his blinding rage as the pain swelled in his back.

Mat searched for signs of apology on the keldeo's face but it only gave a serious vibe. The two sat in the same room as before, only a few minutes after being woken up. They sat on the wet floor which didn't not bother them in the slightest. Surprisingly, no one else was bothered by what had happened. Mat suspected that Channah would blame everything on him but what he did not know was that Pam would later explain what happened since she knew what his plan was, thus saving him from being lectured.

"So, what's up? Did you, need anything?!..." Mat very impatiently asked.

"W-Well, you see. I have a favour to ask you." Requested Kyle.

"After all this? You could've waited for me to finish sleep y'know..."

"Yes and I apologize for that. But it is not something I can spare any more time on. Because I'd like you to be my sparring partner for today!"

A pokemon with as much pride as Kyle must have felt ashamed to ask his guest for such a request. The keldeo's head was looking downwards, he was surely embarrassed but he pulled through to ask something important to him.

It took a few seconds before the dewott finally replied, "sure, why not? Got nothin' better to do."

"Alright, that sounds fantastic!" Kyle said gleefully.

"But first," Mat said, stopping Kyle before they left. "What's your reason?"

"Well you see," began Kyle, hesitant to explain. "I wasn't able to watch your performance against that victini. But from what everyone has told me and from the fact we are safe, I can not deny the fact that you actually won the battle. I would like a demonstration of the power you used that day please."

The two walked outside, down the hill and continued straight for a few minutes. After their short stroll, the pair entered a small clearing in the forest; clear sun entering the small open area and a nice open space to train!

"Shall we commence?" Kyle asked.

Mat grabbed both of his scalchops and Kyle readied his horn and got into his battle stance. The two of them sparred for a few hours with some breaks, all until Mat got too tired to continue.

* * *

Mat was sitting on the grass, sweat pouring down his face. The two pokemon had battle for over two hours without stopping and the dewott was incapable with keeping up with the keldeo's stamina.

"I still don't understand how you were able to become triumphant yet I perished in battle," Kyle complained, reminding Mat that he was still a young pokemon with a hidden childish side.

"All I did was land a few good hits," replied Mat. "Besides, I did notice a few flaws in your battle. For starters: you used sacred sword too much, your hydro pump attack wasn't aimed well and you left yourself vulnerable whenever you jumped for an attack."

"I-I see," Kyle said, showing as bright as day that he was disheartened. "But I'm impressed Mat. Your analyzing skills are impressive, for a pokemon who appeared practically from thin air."

"Yeah, sometimes I actually try y'know," replied Mat nonchalantly.

"It still doesn't explain how you were able to beat Nick ." Kyle complained even further, reflecting his young age.

The dewott got off the ground and replied, "well we're all safe now and that's what matters. If you wanna find an answer then we're gonna have to continue with this, right?"

Mat wiped his head, grabbed both scalchops once again and smirked. Kyle grinned and prepared himself. The dewott would've preferred to do many other things that day that did not involve much effort but it felt nice to help his friend for once. Hopefully for that one time only.

* * *

By the time training was over, Mat was completely drained of his energy but Kyle was still capable of sparring for another hour or two! Once the two of them finally arrived home, Mat was using all his efforts to walk back into his bed where he would fall asleep the moment he closes his eyes. And that is exactly what he did! Kyle opened the door and Mat made a last-ditch effort and dashed inside, took a left turn, jumped onto his pile of hay and was finished for the rest of the day! The sun was only beginning to set and he was done for the day. To Mat it didn't matter since he took every day for granted, he believed nothing would ever go wrong again nor change. Just a normal day everyday which was what he wanted.

It was now supper time. Channah had helped Pam clean up the water from earlier and eventually Danny helped out too for the fun. Everybody except for Mat were eating supper and had fun talking in the room across from him. Several times Danny tried waking up the dewott but he was almost as if in another world. Another peaceful day for them had begun to end, it felt great to live peacefully and without any worries.

* * *

In several hours night had grown and everybody was asleep. The house was left pitch black and the pokemon slept together on their individual piles of hay in the round room. In the middle of the night Mat was awoken after rolling off his bed. He slowly woke up, wiping his eyes before findings that his surroundings were pitch black. Carefully navigating through the room, he eventually found the exit and looked across and into the other room where some snacks were left on the table in case Mat woke up in the middle of the night. Before crossing into the other room, he noticed that there was some light coming from the spiral staircase leading upstairs. Curiosity caught his attention and he soon found himself carefully climbing the staircase. Before entering the room he peered around the corner and found Nymphia; examining something very carefully through a magnifying monocle. The room was pretty messy: papers everywhere, an apple that was half eaten on the floor, the sylveon was hunched over and her hair (especially on her head) was scruffy and sticking out in many directions.

Mat silently entered the room and said quietly, "s'up, what're you doing?"

"Oh, it's you Mat," Nymphia said sheepishly, turning around and looking a bit embarrassed to see him and let him find a mature pokemon like herself in such a disorganized state. "I'm just, working a little late and doing extra work..."

"I see. Cool, cool. So what's bringing you up so late?" Mat asked, genuinely curious about someone else's activities which was pretty rare!

"O-Oh, well you see, I guess you can call it a hobby of mine," Nymphia replied, embarrassment displaying all over her face uncharacteristically.

The dewott walked towards Nymphia and inspected for himself what she was studying. Tablets, scrolls and rocks all containing symbols that were some sort of ancient inscription. To Mat, it looked like nonsense but to Nymphia it was a mystery for her to uncover. The things she collected were from all around the region! When she was a young eevee, Nymphia discovered these artifacts but as time went on Kyle started to also involve himself in her quest. Nymphia would stay and research while Kyle would occasionally ventured if they thought of another location to explore. After many years of work, the sylveon was only able to understand a small amount of the language inscribed on the artifacts.

It took a bit time but the explanation was over. Nymphia was a completely different pokemon during that time: shy, face boiling red with embarrassment, shaky voice and incapable to keep eye contact. She did not seem to be the type of pokemon who was open to talking about what she enjoyed. She seemed to be more like the quiet/mature type who hid many things about themselves.

"Cool stuff! I actually found that interesting, even though I don't normally enjoy learning." Mat complimented with a smile, showing continued interest.

"S-Sure, glad you enjoyed it..." Nymphia sheepishly replied, her eyes darting away from the dewott in a heartbeat.

"Well, I'll see you later!" Mat said before leaving.

"W-Wait!"

"Huh? Something's up?"

"Well you see," Nymphia began, pulling all her courage to say a few more words. "If you're ever interested to help, don't hesitate to say so!"

"Alright, don't sweat it! I'll be back whenever, plus I'm not the one nervous and blushing so I won't ponder much." Mat teased, before exiting.

After that, Mat left the room as silently as he came and Nymphia later followed. As the dewott fell asleep, he could only marvel about how cool Nymphia's research was: to research ancient artifacts and potentially discover something incredible. She was doing something that Mat couldn't; dedicating years worth of time into a passion. What interested him the most was the question: where did it all come from? Like himself, those artifacts hold an unknown origin and Mat felt let like they can uncover something truly outstanding and it only kept intriguing the dewott. But as his mind stirred away in his sleep, he felt as if discovering the truth could somehow lead to something ominous.


	5. Chapter 2 - Field Trip

**Hey, I'm back! I apologize for the super short chapter. Long story short, I stopped making more chapters due to being incapable of overcoming my writer's block and losing some interest. But I remembered how much I enjoyed writing, began breaking my writer's block and came up with this very short chapter.** **Once again, I apologize for the short chapter, could've had lots of potential but I feel like this was fine. Luckily I got a sweet new chapter coming up next! Anyways, please enjoy this one!**

* * *

Internal Mystery

Chapter 2

Field Trip!

Another day began for our group of pokemon. It was quite a normal day actually, no dangers, adventure nor crazy event. Everybody decided to sleep in that morning aside from Danny since it was impossible for him not to wake up early in the morning! As Danny sat on the staircase contemplating what to do, a sudden knocking came from the door.

"Not me," Mat tried to say before falling back to sleep.

Aside from the dewott, the only other pokemon who seemed to have heard the sound was Kyle but he woke up very sluggishly. So the dedenne decided to open the door himself and behind it appeared a swanna.

"Oh, good morning! May I please speak to the keldeo, Kyle" Politely asked the white bird pokemon.

Danny enthusiastically yet nervously responded to the stranger, "o-oh yeah, sure!"

But before Danny could finish turning around, Kyle had already made his way there to greet the guest.

"How may we help you?" Offered Kyle, showing no signs of sleepiness.

"My name is Susanne," began the swanna. "I was wondering if you could help teach my two little ducklettes the basics to battle. Rumours say you're excellent at teaching other pokemon!"

"Well, that is true!" Kyle replied.

Behind Susanne emerged two shy ducklettes who seemed to be a little older than Danny. They did not seem like the type of mean pokemon who got into fights rather they were young and innocent. Kyle explained that he would offer his services for free for as long as they needed it. As the cobalt pokemon began leaving with the swanna and her family, Danny waved goodbye and returned inside.

* * *

"Where did Kyle go?" Nymphia asked Danny as she ate breakfast.

The dedenne finished eating before explaining, "he left to go help some pokemon learn how to battle!"

"Kyle is gone for today?.." Channah mumbled to herself with disappointment.

"Oh, he left," repeated Mat as he joined everybody else. "Speaking of leaving, I haven't been outside much for the past three days."

"Of course you haven't," began Channah. "Unlike you, I've been exploring the outdoors quite a bit with the help of Pam!"

"Well Channah, we still have not visited Francis Town yet!" Exclaimed the pikachu to interrupt a possible argument between the two pokemon.

A curious expression came onto Channah's face as she asked, "ooh, what's that place?"

"It is a big town with a huge pokemon population total! There are also many things to do there," enthusiastically answered Pam. "Maybe we should visit the town and show you three around!"

"Count me out, I got some more work to do," Nymphia said before leaving and entering her room upstairs.

"Ok, I guess it's just the four of us," the chikorita decided as she yawned.

Mat was interrupted himself from eating an apple to ask, "by 'us four' that means: you, Pam, Danny and Kyle, eh?"

"You too!" Channah declared as she triumphantly laughed.

"Oh please nooo.."

"Hooray, a field trip!" rejoiced Danny.

Mat sighed, gave up and said, "whatever, I guess it can't be helped..."

* * *

The group of pokemon began their quick journey eastwards to Francis Town! Mat offered to carry the bag for Pam that contained some supplies. In the bag there were poké dollars, some snacks and a map. The journey took a little over twenty minutes and some extra time consisting of Mat taking a quick walking break and quickly complaining. As they approached the town, they were greeted by a large pillar arch made of wood with the text "east entrance" on the top.

In front of the entrance, Mat sat down and whined, "ugh, we're finally here! So now what?"

"We may walk around, shop or visit certain tourist sites." Informed Pam.

Sparkles sparkled in Channah's and Danny's eyes as they ran into town without a second thought. Pam and Mat looked at each other and then followed the two other pokemon. However, it didn't take much time before they caught up and found themselves in the town square. Channah was with Danny, both observing every detail of their surroundings. Many pokemon alone populated the town square with a large variety of them too! In the center of the town square was a simple fountain, surrounding the perimeter of the circle were tippis where pokemon sold things such as ordinary items or offered a variety of services such as opening chests. It was the first time that the three newcomers have seen so many new pokemon all in one place since the day they arrived! There were pokemon who were socializing with each other, others making purchases and some just going on their merry way. The large crowd of pokemon was overwhelming for Mat so he nudged closer to his group of friends than usual.

After Pam described the utility of each tippi and the services they have to offer in great detail, she brought the gang down a street. The street's path was made of gravel and there were houses planted next to the sides of the path, each wooden house looked rather identical but some parts were coloured differently or had some unique design to distinguish itself from the others. It was not long before they arrived at a small and empty park at the end of the road.

Pam, at the front of the group turned around and said with a big smile on her face, "welcome to the poké park! This is just a nice little place I enjoy to spend my time at! We have: slides, mankey bars, swings, rocking blitzle and rocking ponyta, more slides and some c saws!"

"Aw cool!" exclaimed Danny.

Mat stretched his arms in the air before saying, "alright, this place doesn't look so shabby... We can take a few minutes here to take a break from your knowledge bombs, Pam."

Pam and Danny began to play on the swing set first! Mat threw the bag he carried onto a bench that he and Channah sat on as they watched the two younger pokemon play. Out of the bag Mat casually grabbed a berry to munch on.

As the chikorita began to sit closer to the dewott, she continued watch the two young electric type pokemon as her eyes closed slightly, she smiled and said, "you know, it's happy moments like these where I begin to forget to wonder why we're here. And maybe even think that it's better that we are here..."

"Same here," Mat agreed while he was eating. "Sometimes I get this feeling that we're even better off not searching for the answer at all."

"Well that's weird!" Jokingly said Channah as she giggled.

The two pokemon continued to happily supervise as Danny began sliding down a spiral slide behind Pam with glee.


	6. Chapter 3 - Revival of Rivalry

**Hooray! Like I promised, I delivered a longer chapter! And it only took me a whole month and one day... I feel like it was worth it though. However, before starting this chapter there is some important info you need to know that was only mentioned at the beginning of the first chapter. Here's a quick reminder: before becoming pokemon, Channah and Mat were former rivals as pokemon trainers and Channah kept losing to Mat even though she was smarter than him as a pokemon trainer. Finally, just to avoid confusion, this chapter begins before chapter one and later continues from the end of chapter two. That is all! With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Internal Mystery

Chapter 3

Revival of Rivalry

A day passed since Mat accepted a training session with Kyle so the dewott spent the following day to rest. During that afternoon, Channah noticed the keldeo return indoors looking disappointed. He had the same disappointed look on his face when he returned home yesterday with Mat. Kyle walked right past the chikorita with his head lowered, paying no attention to her. This made Channah concerned.

"Are you alright, Kyle?" Channah asked, genuinely concerned for her friend.

Kyle sluggishly turned around before answering, "yeah, no, I'm fine..."

Channah sighed before asking again, "are you sure you're okay?"

The keldeo turned around again to reply, "yes, yes, all is swell..."

"Does it have to do with yesterday? Maybe with a certain dewott?"

Two whole seconds passed before Kyle replied, "Yes! It was..."

"Go figure," Channah said unsurprised. "Well even though we've only been here for a few days I feel like I've known Mat for a long time. And that's not a good thing. Especially since he can be super irritating..."

"Feelings are mutual, except I've actually only known him for a few days."

"I doubt he knows how annoying he is: always complaining, does nothing around the house to help, always act bored and makes pessimistic remarks... Hey, we should try and get back at him! Maybe ruin his pride or something... I feel like attacking that will really get to him!"

"Your plan sounds heinous but maybe by doing this he will become a more serious pokemon. Finish being lazy and careless and make good use of his day."

From then on the two decided to quickly brainstorm an idea to crush Mat's pride. Their rash idea soon came into fruition. The idea was to humiliate or at least beat him at something he was good at. Something he was somehow naturally good at, pokemon battling!

"Channah, you will do it. As I will take my time to teach you the art of battle!" Exclaimed the now enthusiastic keldeo.

"M-Me, how?" cowardly asked the chikorita.

Kyle gave a confident smile as he answered, "please have some courage! Believe in yourself. Besides the type advantage, the reason why it should be you is because with enough training he will lose to a pokemon who has only just begun their adventure. In other words, he will lose to a beginner, nonetheless you! But have no fear please, when it comes to teaching pokemon how to battle I'm rather good at it!"

"If you say so." Unconfidently replied Channah.

The sly duo of pokemon snuck out of the house for the rest of the afternoon. Kyle had brought Channah to the same clearing in the forest as he did with Mat. The day was warm and the sun shinned brightly, perfect conditions to start their training! To begin with, Kyle instructed Channah through simple warm-up activities such as jogging and stretches before training began.

"Channah, what do you already know about battling?" Kyle asked

The chikorita stopped and thought before replying with an apologetic smile, "yeahhh, I actually don't know anything."

Kyle sighed and happily replied, "let's start from the beginning!"

Training officially began! Kyle began by teaching the chikorita how to use her attacks: poison powder, synthesis, reflect and magical leaf. Poison powder to induce poison, synthesis to restore health, reflect to reduce physical damage received and magical leaf to deal damage! By the end of the first day, Channah quickly learnt what each of her attacks did, how to use them and in which scenarios each move should be best in.

* * *

The sun was setting as the duo returned home. Their absence seemed to have an effect on everyone at home, except Mat. Danny had to play with Pam all day (since no would else would) which made the pikachu too occupied to help Nymphia with some of her work so she had to do all that extra stuff so she ended up getting less work done.

"Welcome back! What have two been doing today?" Pam asked as she welcomed Channah and Kyle.

Kyle took a second to think of lie, "we have just been outside, having fun."

"Okay. Sounds good!"

As Pam left Channah whispered to Kyle, "why did you have to lie to her?"

"I'm sure if Pam knew should would alert Mat," answered Kyle. "But is this alright? To train for a battle your opponent will not be prepared for?"

"No, it's fine," replied Channah. "He gets what's coming for him."

"Well, if you believe that is so..."

* * *

Day two and once again the duo went to go train in the afternoon. They snuck out and left, luckily it was another good day. Kyle had prepared the lesson this training session right after the last one. His plan for today was to train Channah to use her attacks on an opponent.

Kyle took ten steps away from the chikorita and ordered her, "please do your best to hit me with your attacks!"

"W-With one of my attacks? Are you sure?!" hesitantly asked Channah.

"Of course! But do not worry, I'll be dodging!"

"Can't I p-practice my defensive attacks today?"

"Do not worry! Though I may get hit once or twice I shall easily recover!"

Both pokemon stood ready. The chikorita demonstrated determination in her eyes while the keldeo had a slightly overconfident expression on his face. Channah began as she flicked her leaf to shoot her magical leaf attack at Kyle! As the leaves travelled through the air they left a short purple trail of light behind them. As they approached Kyle he was easily able to swiftly dodge through the first wave of Channah's attacks!

"Was that your best, Channah?" asked Kyle as he dropped his guard.

"I-I guess I'm not. I don't feel comfortable with attacking you," answered the chikorita. "Maybe I'm not fit for this, I just don't have the confidence to attack another pokemon. Maybe battling isn't my thing..."

Kyle took a few seconds to think of a reply before saying, "if you would like to draw your strength and find determination just remember how irritating Mat is. I don't know where 'all' your anger towards him comes from, maybe some of it comes from before waking up on the beach so try to also draw the few bad feelings you have left of him from before then."

With those words Channah was able to continue! The next wave of magical leaves came much faster and the sudden increase in speed made them noticeably more difficult to dodge, making it less of a walk in the park for Kyle! After dodging the second wave with less ease the keldeo grinned.

"That was much better!" complimented Kyle.

They continued this for nearly three hours with many breaks in-between. Channah had gotten good enough to the point where she was able to land a quite a few hits and put the keldeo in a position where he had to cut the leaves rather than dodge.

"Channah, you've gotten very good quickly. You seem almost natural at this," Kyle said as their next break began. "However, this is only the beginning of training. The difference between training and the battlefield are very different. No pokemon will simply let you attack them without attacking you. We will save that for another time though!"

Channah was a little disheartened to hear that after nearly two whole days of hard work she was still not completely ready for a real battle so she asked, "so what're going to do now?"

Kyle closed his eyes for a second and opened them before answering, "we will train your other, more defensive moves."

Until sunset, Channah practised using synthesis, poison powder and reflect. Since poison powder induced poison, they didn't want Kyle getting hit by it so the chikorita practiced against nearby objects. Once it was sunset the duo once again returned home and Channah had become significantly stronger and no one else knew!

* * *

The next day came, Kyle had to teach ducklettes and Channah left with Pam, Mat and Danny to Francis town. They had just arrived at a park to have a bit of fun and spend some time at a place Pam enjoyed. Channah and Mat watched as Pam and Danny rode up and down the c-saw with glee. The chikorita felt happy to spend some time to hang out with her friends rather than train, even though she was disappointed earlier that morning when she heard that Kyle was busy helping others. She continued to sit besides Mat on the bench as she grew tired from the eventful day.

"Hey Pam, is there anything 'we' can do?" Mat asked out loud.

Pam's attention turned to Mat as she replied, "yes there is! If you turn back and into the town center, there are several stations where you can buy vanilite ice cream cones for warm days like these!"

"Yeah, just hope they aren't made of real vanilite." Mat sarcastically remarked as he left.

This left Channah all alone with the two electric-type kids. As soon as Mat was gone, another, taller and more buffed figure slowly crept past the entrance of the park from around the other corner. It was a seismitoad carrying a large bag over its shoulders. Pam was no pokemon to judge other pokemon by their looks but she could tell that the seismitoad was not friendly. The pikachu divided her attention and kept a close eye on the suspicious pokemon. As soon as the seismitoad began to walk towards the unaware chikorita, Pam stopped playing on the c-saw and got off quickly but then two palpitoads clumsily ran around the corner and walked by the larger pokemon's side.

Danny tried to ask Pam he watched her leave, "what's wrong?"

While the situation was unrolling, Channah was about to pass out on the bench. Her head was turned away and was looking downwards so she couldn't see anything that was happening. The seismitoad gestured for the palpitoad to do the dirty work of snatching the bag Mat left on the bench.

"Channah!" the pikachu cried out of the desperation to grab the chikorita's attention.

As Pam cried out loud, she recklessly launched a thunder shock attack towards the palpitoad but it was swiftly blocked by the seismitoad.

"I didn't expect to do any work today." came a deep and lazy voice from the seismitoad talking to himself.

"My apologies but we can not allow you to steal our stuff!" shouted Pam, still exhilarated from her attempt to attack the palpitoad.

Pam shouting startled the chikorita and snapped her awake which prompted her to ask, "huh? What's going on, Pam!?"

Channah quickly hopped off the bench before she could understand the situation. It was also at that moment that the seimitoad lost what very little patience it had and used his used shot attack to get rid of the pikachu.

"Pam!" Channah cried as she witnessed her friend get hit.

The mud shot was a direct hit and nonetheless super effective! Pam fell onto the ground and looked pretty injured from a single hit from the vibration pokemon. Danny was frozen with fear while he sat on the c-saw but Channah was absolutely filled with rage after witnessing her sweet and innocent friend get hurt.

The chikorita shook in place from the horror as she yelled, "h-how dare do such a thing to her!"

"Who cares," replied the other presumptuous palpitoad beside the seismitoad. "It's strong pokemon like our boss here who run this place now-a-days! So we'll take your stuff and then you guys can go-on with your jolly day."

Nymphia did mention that there were many awful pokemon all-around the region but Channah thought that the victini would be the worst and only case of it she would witness.

"You creeps!" the chikorita yelled once again.

The yelling irritated the seismitoad which caused it to carelessly launch its mud shot attack once again but towards the chikorita. The mud shot attack came by surprise since there was no indication that he was going to use it since the seismitoad's expression remained plain and bored and it barely moved. Without thinking, Channa's body dodged the attack. Even though she hadn't been taught to dodge she was able to do it pretty well! It felt almost natural.

The seismitoad sighed and mumbled to itself, "pest."

A battle was now underway! Channah's first instinct was to use light screen since it was likely that a seimitoad would have a few more special attacks. As the chikorita had set-up her light screen, she was then struck by the opponent's uproar attack! Luckily for Channah her light screen reduced the damage received and since the seismitoad was in an uproar she knew it would have to use the move two more times, making it easy to make a plan a counterattack. When the next uproar came Channah knew exactly what to expect and was able to dodge the attack. Between the time uproar was used and the next one there was a window of opportunity to attack! Channah used her chance to poison the seismitoad using poison powder. When the third uproar arrived she narrowly dodged it and used synthesis to restore herself to full health.

"C'mon boss, get'em!" the palpitoads simultaneously cheered.

After hearing the enemy cheering, Danny mustered the courage to encourage his friend, "y-you can d-do it Channah!"

The seismitoad wanted to end the battle as soon as possible and do whatever it takes, even if it something unfair. The enemy seismitoad quickly backed-up towards the entrance and began to use a muddy water attack which would hit Channah, her friends and damage the park! Since the seismitoad was slow yet powerful it took a few seconds before muddy water would come out so Channah seized the few seconds of opportunity! With the given time, the chikorita was able to jump over the muddy water wave! As Channah jumped over the muddy water attack, in mid-air she used magical leaf! The attack was a success and landed a direct hit, leaving massive damage! After the seismitoad was hit, the wave of dirty water quickly died-down before reaching anyone. Due to the damage, it also pushed the seismitoad back and nearly falling backwards. With one last ditch effort, Channah furiously launched another wave of magical leaves and it landed a critical hit!

With all the super effective damage and accumulated poison damage, the seismitoad was no longer able to battle! Channah got out of her battle position as she exhaled.

Both palpitoads took a few steps backwards and one of them said, "i-if it's raining, there would be no way you c-could keep up with the boss' speed and power!"

Channah turned her head to look at the two palpitoads who were preparing to use rain dance. The palpitoads planned on using rain dance to conjure-up rain which would activate the seismitoad's swift swim ability, doubling its speed.

The chikorita intimidatingly glared and slowly walked towards the palpitoad duo as she said, "try me..."

"Uh, help? b-b-b-b-b-boss!?" yelped the two palpitoads.

Channah watched the cowardly palpitoads run away from her out of fear. Only once the seismitoad remained laying on the ground fainted did the chikorita also fell onto the floor from exhaustion due to battle.

After the battle ended, Danny came running to ask, "are you and Pam OK?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Channah replied without moving. "Please go check on Pam though."

* * *

After the wild battle encounter, the four pokemon returned home. Mat arrived only a few minutes after the battle ended, Pam received an oran berry to temporarily treat the pain but nobody talked about Channah's battle. With an ominous and gloomy atmosphere looming over them, they agreed that they had done enough that day so they headed home. Little talk was exchanged on the way back as they were also occupied with eating the ice cream Mat fetched.

Once they finally arrived home, Pam was scolded by Nymphia for not explaining Francis' town current issue; the growing number of groups of evil pokemon residing there and the increased crime rate. Even though Pam knew that, she didn't know the situation had gotten worse in the last year. However, she wanted to tell them that there might have been bad pokemon there but she also didn't want to mention anything that could worry them and bring down the mood.

* * *

The next few days would continue normally for Channah and Kyle; more training. After Kyle returned the night before, he had learnt a bit about Channah's battle with the seismitoad. So after hearing this, he had to reconsider Channah's lessons because she grown stronger than he thought..

So after three more days of training it was finally their sixth and final training session. The chikorita stood in the clearing as normal while waiting for the keldeo as it strode back and forth, trying to figure out what will be in here lesson today.

Kyle stopped and announced, "okay, I have an idea! Test your might against me, and if I find you worthy; I will denounce you ready."

"Sorry but what do I do again?" asked Channah.

"After hearing that you were able to take down a seismitoad who was head of its own evil little organization. I feel like you might be capable of great things..." admitted the keldeo. "However, after all this practice I would like to see how far you have gone in only a week before you battle Mat."

Both pokemon quickly stood ready to battle, each a few feet away from each other from the center of the circular clearing.

"Once either of us are unable to battle the match will end." declared Kyle.

Channah gulped and tried to confidently reply, "alright!"

The battle began! The chikorita opened up with light screen but it left herself wide open for Kyle to attack! With the small window of opportunity, the keldeo punished Channah with aqua tail. He was confident in his ability to win so he didn't use swords dance to overpower his attacks and hurt Channah too much but he also didn't want to use sacred swords, at least not yet. As Channah flew back after being hit by aqua tail she also used magical leaf. The sudden attack surprised the keldeo and landed a direct hit! While Channah was recovering from the fall due to the aqua tail attack, Kyle sped towards her with aqua jet. Given little time, Channah was almost able to dodge the attack but her side was struck. She was once again pushed onto the ground by Kyle's attack and the keldeo relentlessly gave chase with his aqua jet attack, this time landing a direct hit which sent Channah landing besides a tree.

"I apologize for my actions but I must give all my effort in order to properly evaluate you." said Kyle.

"F-Fine by me!" angrily replied Channah.

Once again they stood ready to battle. The chikorita attempted to attack the keldeo with her magical leaf attack! Much to no surprise, Kyle was able to dodge all her attempts even while giving her all. It seems like Kyle was sandbagging during the training session or was giving more than his all during this battle.

Channah continued to launch a barrage of magical leaves at Kyle out of frustration. Running around the perimeter of the clearing, Kyle was able to swiftly outrun and dodge Channah's barrage as he waited for a chance to strike. After running a few laps, the chikorita's bombardment of attacks soon became slower and Kyle found a perfect opportunity to attack. Kyle suddenly dashed towards the chikorita but as soon as they were face-to-face the keldeo was met with some poison powder. As Kyle suddenly became poisoned he took a few steps back due to being shocked from the surprise attack and was then hit with the magical leaves that followed behind him from earlier. After massive damage was dealt, Channah quickly threw out another magical leaf attack but Kyle jumped over it and towards the chikorita with all his might! Kyle then struck Channah with his sacred swords attack! The small chikorita was sent flying into a tree from the hit. Channah soon fell onto the ground and was no longer able to battle...

The keldeo was heavily breathing as he mumbled to himself while watching the fainted chikorita, "not bad, rather, that was amazing... How is she so powerful? How are they so powerful? It is as if they were incredible pokemon fighters in another life..."

* * *

The sun shone brightly as the afternoon began. Between the battle ending and then, Kyle did his best to heal himself and Channah with the berries he brought. The keldeo luckily had just enough for both himself and the chikorita.

"S-So, how did I do?" Channah asked as she munched on an oran berry.

Kyle simply replied by telling her that she did very well and now had his approval to battle Mat. But in reality there was much more he wanted to add and ask Channah about herself.

Once they both felt ready they headed back. The chikorita was confident that she would win her battle. Not only did she have the type advantage against water-type pokemon such as the dewott but she also now had much more experience at battling. She didn't exactly remember why she was doing this, maybe it was to be able to grow strong and protect her friends if there were to be another incident like at Francis town. But for some reason she had this desire to prove to Mat that she was stronger than him.

However there was one issue Channah and Kyle faced, how would the duo make Mat battle? Would the dewott even take it seriously or at the least accept their request? This was an issue they stumbled upon as they walked home.

"How will we get around this issue?" asked the keldeo to itself.

"I'll just straight-up ask him myself!" answered Channah.

Once the two pokemon entered their dwelling they found mat sitting on the stair case leading to Nymphia's room, blankly staring downwards, thinking itself.

The chikorita quickly paced herself towards the dewott and asked, "hey, wanna battle?"

Mat suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and replied, "huh, whaaa?"

"Yeah, a serious battle!" The Chikorita confidently grinned.

"No."

After denying Channah's request, Mat hopped off the stair case and walked outside. Kyle sighed after Mat mindlessly walked passed him.

"Looks like he might have something on his mind," mentioned Kyle. "Maybe we should give him some space."

"There is no way a pokemon as brainless as him would have anything on his mind!" retorted Channah.

For the rest of the day Channah kept asking Mat to battle her but he kept denying her. Little did the chikorita know but an opportunity would arise the following day...

"Eureka..." Nymphia mumbled to herself while readjusting her magnifying monocle as she verified her work in her room upstairs.

* * *

Morning came and Nymphia had a special announcement for everybody as soon as they finished breakfast. Once everybody was ready, they gathered in front of the sylveon in the room they woke up in.

"I got big news relating to my research!" announced Nymphia.

Pam jumped in excitement and asked, "oh, what is it?"

"I am certain that I have found a lead to finding the missing link between pokemon and a fourth state of evolution," began Nymphia. "But I'll need a team to come along on this expedition since there will be a lot of travelling..."

"Who will join you on this expedition?" asked Kyle.

Nymphia pondered for a minute and then answered, "myself of course, Channah and Pam."

"Wait, why not me?!" Mat demanded.

The sylveon sighed and replied, "sorry Mat, I understand you are interested in my studies but I'm doing this to you as punishment since you haven't given Danny the attention he needs which has led him to pester me everyday! So while we're gone please interact with him."

"But if you run into trouble you'll need someone to protect you guys... So at least bring Kyle." retorted the dewott.

Nymphia gave a suspicious look at Kyle before saying, "we have Channah, she'll be able to help us if we're in trouble."

Mat groaned and everybody watched him angrily leave the house. After the chikorita watched her friend leave she followed him outside.

"Mat, I'll let you take my place on this expedition!" exclaimed Channah.

The dewott instantly turned to face his friend and said, "Channah, s-seriously?!"

"On one condition," began Channah. "We battle, right now."

"C'mon, are you-"

"No buts."

"Whatever, fine... What you want, Channah."

"If you win, you take my place on the expedition. So Mat, deal?

"Deal.."

Mat and Channah both entered the same clearing in the forest the chikorita trained in. Nymphia and Kyle soon followed after sneaking out with them, telling Pam and Danny some lie to excuse themselves outside so they can leave without the two kids following them so they won't witness the upcoming battle.

Like during practice, both participants stood a few feet away from the center. Nymphia and Kyle watched from a safe distance away. Channah stood in a ready position but Mat simply drew his scalechops and stood carelessly.

"The winner will be decided once either of you are unable to battle," declared Nymphia. "Now let the battle begin!"

Channah's fight with Mat began! Channah started off by using light screen like before. Mat used water pulse but the attack landed after her light screen was activated, dealing less damage. Mat continued to shoot his water pulse attack at Channah and approach her so he could get in range to use his physical attacks. However, Channah was able to prevent Mat's approach by walling him out with magical leaf.

"Kyle, you started training Channah ever since you two started leaving with each other everyday, correct?" Nymphia asked.

Kyle gulped and replied, "yes, Nymphia..."

"What's your motive?"

"I felt like there was some sort of rivalry between the two and since Mat can already battle pretty well I needed to help Channah level up. "

"Anything else?.."

"And it is also kind of a revenge plot against Mat. For defeating the victini and not me! But please listen, it is a win-win situation for myself and Channah."

Nymphia sighed, she could not believe how childish Kyle was. Still holding Mat's victory against him when Kyle thought it should've been him, even though it's been over a week since then.

Mat kept trying to push forwards by using water pulse to clash with Channah's magical leaf attack. After their attacks kept clashing for over a minute Channah's barrage of attacks became slower and an opportunity arose for the dewott to approach! After their last wave of attacks clashed Mat jumped towards Channah and struck her using fury cutter, causing super effective damage. Channah slid back from the attack and retaliated with magical leaf which did super effective damage to Mat!

"I never knew Mat had learnt fury cutter!" Kyle gasped. "The one time we did spar he didn't mention that he learnt that move!"

"To be honest, after that sparring session with you I did a bit of training to level up. Thought it'd be useful in case of an emergency and in the process discovered the move furry cutter." quickly explained Mat after getting up from Channah's attack.

Without hesitation Channah unleashed magical leaf again at Mat. The dewott tried to counter the attack by cutting the leaves with razor shell but found little success. After getting partially hit by the countered attack, Mat ran towards Channah and was met with her same attack at point-blank range. But after getting hit by the super effective attack, Mat was able to quickly answer back by using revenge! Since revenge deals double the damage received from the opponent, Channah was struck by a powerful hit even though it was ineffective! The poor chikorita was sent crashing towards the perimeter of the battlefield.

"We're done now." declared Mat as he watched his defeated friend by his feet.

Channah struggle to stand up and replied, "b-but I can still f-fight!"

"Face it, you're defeated. Checkmate," said Mat. "If I hit you with fury cutter you would be 'donezo' and even if I used razor shell you would still be defeated. And you're in no shape to even able to dodge any more of my attacks."

"B-But still, I could still try to win," Channah tried to argue.

"No buts, we're done."

Channah was defeated, completely defeated. Before Mat could turn his back tears began to run down the chikorita's eyes. Instead of ignoring her, Mat walked to Channah to pat her head as comfort.

"Hey, you did a good job." complimented Mat.

Mat's attempt at kindness was rejected as Channah tried to move his hand by pushing it with her leaf. Nymphia soon came to comfort the chikorita by petting with her ribbons while also emptily congratulating Mat. After things died down, Nymphia officially declared Mat as the winner, even if he in someway kind of forfeited. Mat now officially took Channah's place in the expedition. Both contestants were soon treated for their injuries with berries. And as they walked home, Kyle spoke to Mat while walking behind Nymphia and Channah.

"Had you really need to end the battle prematurely?" asked Kyle. "Both of us know well Channah was still capable of continuing the battle, even though her odds of winning were slim to none. And I am sure you were well aware that what you did would hurt her feelings more than finishing her off."

"Of course," honestly answered Mat. "I could easily tell that she worked super hard. But it was honestly difficult for me to continue fighting. Not only because she was a tough opponent but because she was my friend. Hitting her with my attacks just felt wrong and deep down inside she must've thought so too. I just couldn't continue the battle knowing I was fighting my friend like that..."

Kyle had no way to reply to Mat's noble words aside from nodding. Luckily for herself, Channah was able to hear what Mat said because the dewott unknowingly blurted that out louder than intentional. What Mat said made Channah feel much better on the inside.


End file.
